Leonora, Gwalia, Menzies and Lake Ballard.....WA

Continuing south we visited Leinster.....another BHP Billiton mining town, set up for mining personnel. Next stop Leonora, once again a very small inland Western Australia country town where gold and nickel are mined. Leonora's twin town of Gwalia provided more interest. Gwalia is now a ghost town, so a poke around the area which was once a thriving community was especially interesting. The town literally died overnight on December 27, 1963 when the mine closed down prematurely due to an accident. The population of 1700 was reduced to 40 and by 17^th January 1964 the Gwalia State Hotel had been closed. Many of the town's houses are still erected but are deteriorating and just left as a tourist attraction or because it would cost too much to completely demolish them! The building which was once the State Hotel is still intact and currently used for the large 'Sons of Gwalia' mine.........an open pit gold mine which commenced in 1898. The first mine manager was Herbert Hoover who later became the 31^st President of the United States. This mine was resurrected and reopened with the invention of more sophisticated mining equipment. The restored historic Hoover House which overlooks the mine is now privately owned and operates as a guest house.
We spent the evening with lots of other campers at Niagara Dam.............a picturesque oasis which has been used for the last 100 years as a great camping, picnic and swimming spot. The dam was constructed by the Railways Department in 1897 – 98 to provide water for the steam locomotives.
Next morning we travelled the short 10 klm distance further east to another 'ghost town' Kookynie, once a thriving town, boasting (in 1907), a population of 3,500 people.
Menzies our next stop, yet another small town which in 1910 had a population of 5,000 people and today is home to around 70 people. The town features some historic buildings, most notably the Town Hall and Clock Tower, the original Menzies Hotel and the restored former Lady Shenton Hotel............which is now the Community Resource Centre, Visitor Information Centre, Community Post agent, Library and Spinifex Art Gallery. The Town Hall and Clock Tower was built in 1896 and never had the clock installed until 1999! The original clock was lost, when the ship carry the clock ran aground off Fremantle, in the year 1905. All those years the hole for the clock remained hollow.
We were keen to view Lake Ballard sculptures, so from Menzies we travelled 51 klms of reasonably good unsealed road west. The trip was worth the experience especially as we got to see the lake when dry, after rain and at sunset. Lake Ballard is a salt lake where Antony Gormley has created 'Inside Australia'. This incredible cultural display is situated within the eerie setting of the lake. He has 51 sculptures derived from laser scans of Menzies inhabitants. The 'Inside Australia' idea of the internationally renowned artist was commissioned to mark the 50^th Anniversary of the Perth International Arts Festival in 2003. We enjoyed a camp for the night along the edge of the lake.
Today, Tuesday 24^th July, we arrived in Kalgoorlie where we will spend a few days exploring this gold mining city.